Somewhere nearby voices murmured softly, rising and falling, none of them familiar. Something creaked and made a rolling noise.

I opened my eyes to see a strange window in front of me, the curtains fully drawn. Next to it sat a small couch.

Where the Hell am I?

Panic rose in my chest and I quickly sat up.

“It’s all right,” came a familiar voice.

I whipped my head around to see Angelo sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed I was in. He leaned forward, hands folded and resting on his legs, his eyes wide and uncertain.

I took in a shaky breath and adjusted to my surroundings. The lighting was soft, coming from a small light next to the bed. Nearby, the door sat shut, a thin slice of glass not doing much to show what was on the other side.

By now, though, I’d figured out we were in a hospital.

“How are you feeling?” Angelo softly asked.

I took another long inhale just to test it.

“Good.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Uh...”

“It’s okay. Don’t think too hard.”

I ran a palm across my temples. “It’s fine.” My voice cracked a bit.

“Here.”

He poured some water from the pitcher on the bed side table and handed the glass to me. I gulped half of it down and then passed it back.

“I was in the hallway,” I explained. “I know I passed out. I knew it when it was happening. I was going for my inhaler. And then… there were some people.”

“Paramedics. I found you unconscious in the hallway and called for an ambulance.”

“Oh.”

Heat washed over me. I was ashamed to cause so much trouble. And all because I couldn’t get to my stupid meds fast enough.

That never happened before. No matter if it took me a few minutes to get to it, I always made it there without passing out. In fact, this would be the first time it ever happened.

Because the circumstances had been different. What I had wasn’t a normal asthma attack.

The way I couldn’t get so much as half a breath in... The way my heart fluttered and my hands shook…

“I think I had a panic attack,” I dumbly said, staring at the blanket covering my legs.

“A panic attack? Does that ever happen?”

My head slowly swung from side to side. “No. It’s never happened to me before. I…” The full memory of what went on in the living room washed over me. I held my breath. “Oh my God.”

Angelo rested his hand on my leg but I barely felt it. He seemed a thousand miles away, a faint memory, less real than that horrific day I suddenly remembered. “Paige? Are you all right? Do I need to call a nurse?”

“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I just…” My eyes burned and I took in a sharp breath. It racked my chest and a dry sob escaped. “I remember why it happened. Why I started hyperventilating.”

Angelo opened his mouth, probably to question me some more, but I cut him off.

“I need Sophia,” I rasped. “Please. Call Sophia. I need to talk to her.”

“Okay. But...”

I stared him down, silently begging him. He nodded and pulled out his phone.

My eyes fell back down to my lap.

All these years… How could it be I forgot about something so big so easily?

And then, even more crazily, how could it be I remembered so quickly?

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it didn’t budge.

I needed my sister. She was the only one I could talk to. The only one who understood. The only one who had answers to my questions.

“She’s not answering,” Angelo announced. “I’ll send her a text telling her to get in touch. Should I tell her about the asthma attack?”

“Just tell her it’s important,” I quietly said. “I don’t want her to freak out about me being in the hospital. Thank you.”

What time was it anyway? Maybe Sophia was still asleep. Or maybe she didn’t want to talk to Angelo. She’d pretty much kicked him out of our apartment. Would she answer if a call came in from my phone?

Maybe not. We hadn’t exactly parted on good terms.

It didn’t matter anyway. My cell was back at Angelo’s family’s house along with everything else I packed.

“I’ll try texting Dominic,” Angelo announced, standing up and typing away on his phone.

“Dominic?”

“To see if Sophia is on a job. He’ll know if she is.”

“Oh.”

Angelo didn’t look at me. Instead he paced about the small room, keeping his head turned away from mine. Something about his body posture was off.

Was there something he wasn’t telling me?

He lowered his phone but still didn’t look at me. Instead he went over to the window and fiddled with the curtains.

“Do you want some light? I can open these a bit.”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks.”

“What about food? Are you hungry?”

“No.”

He finally turned back to me.

“The nurse said I could call her once you woke up. They ran some tests on you once you got here. Everything is fine.”

“Okay,” I rasped. “Uh, but let’s wait a minute. Did Dominic text you back?”

“Not yet.”

His phone beeped and he looked down at it. “That’s him.”

“What did he say?”

Angelo’s jaw clenched as he read the text. “He said ‘yes’.”

“That’s all?”

Angelo hit the call button and brought the phone to his face. We both waited in silence.

When his brother didn’t answer, he sighed and came to sit back in his chair. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. Thank you. Why didn’t he answer? Why was he so vague?”

“Dominic can be tight-lipped. About everything.”

But why Sophia, I wanted to ask.

Angelo slipped his phone back into his front pocket. “She’s probably busy. I’m sure she’ll call you once she gets a chance to check her phone.”

“Yeah,” I thickly agreed.

I didn’t want to wait. I couldn’t wait. I needed to see my sister right now.

“I’ll call the nurse.”

He pushed the little call button next to the bed. The nurse came right away, checking me out and then leaving to bring a doctor in.

Angelo waited patiently while I got checked a second time.

“You seem to be doing fine,” the doctor, a tall, dark woman said. “You can leave today if you like, but I want you to stay here and rest a bit before you try to move.”

I pursed my lips. That would be hard when I was full of a drive to go and steal a car and head back to the city to find my sister.

“All right,” I reluctantly agreed.

They left, leaving Angelo and me alone again.

“Want me to go and get you something?” he asked.

“No thanks.”

“I know hospital food sucks, but I can sneak you something in. There are a lot of restaurants just down the strip from here.”

I shook my head. “I’m not very hungry.”

“All right.” He took his usual seat. “Do you want to talk?”

I licked my lips. “Not… Not right now.”

“All right.” His hands picked one of mine up, warm and strong. A wave of relaxation floated over me.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

His lips turned up in a sad smile. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re all right.”

“Nothing like that has happened to me before.”

He reached up to brush some hair from my forehead. I probably looked like shit. Probably had sweat slicked all over my face and dark bags under my eyes.

“It probably won’t happen again.”

My last memories before blacking out came back. “I hope not...”

Angelo gazed straight at me and blinked rapidly. “I was really worried.”

I sighed heavily.

He squeezed my hand. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I just want you to know...”

That I care. Those were the last words he didn’t say.

I smiled at him, his attention making me feel infinitely better. With Soph off somewhere, who would have come to my aid? Who would come and stay at the hospital with me?

It felt weird that the answer was a man I’d only recently met.

But it also felt right.

“If you do want to talk,” he went on, “I’m right here.”

“Thank you,” I said, meaning those two simple words more than I ever had before.